


The Road Not Taken

by in_the_field_of_clovers



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Also everyone is gay, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Brothers, Everything is soft, F/M, Farm AU i guess??, First work - Freeform, Hetalia, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Literally The Chapters Are Robert Frost Quotes, M/M, No One Is Over 18 Like No EW, No Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Please Don't Yell At Me I'm Doing My Best, Robert Frost References, Slow Burn, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, Tragic Backstories OMG, We Love Some Nice Farm AU, Why Would There Be Shreksy Times, everyone is babey, honestly what am I doing, soft vibes, these tags make no sense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:09:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22699180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_the_field_of_clovers/pseuds/in_the_field_of_clovers
Summary: When Ludwig moves to the small Italian town of Montefalco, from Berlin, Germany, he belives that his life is over. However, Feliciano believes that it's only just begun.----Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz HimaruyaAny businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. And any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Relationships: Austria/Hungary (Hetalia), Germany/North Italy (Hetalia), South Italy/Spain (Hetalia)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Hello there! Clover here. I'm here to answer any question that those of you who chose to read this story may have! 

1: UPDATE SCHEDULE 

"When will this story update?"

I intend to update weekly, on every Wednesday. 

"Will this story be edited at a later date?"

Most likely! I do my best to make sure that everything is grammatically correct and fits together correctly, but if you notice any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them!

"Are you going to abandon this story like you did the other ones?"

No, I am not. I have a full plot set out, names for chapters, and I do not plan to forget about this story.

2: STORY

"How long is this book going to be?"

This book will be 25 chapters long, plus a prologue and an epilogue.

"When does this take place?" 

This book takes place sometime in the mid-1980s.

"Where does this take place?"

The main setting for this story is Montefalco, Umbria in Italy. Ludwig and his family moved from Berlin, Germany.

"What are the main ships?"

This story is meant to be Ludwig/Feliciano centric, but there is/will be some background Antonio/Lovino!

"Why is some of the dialogue in italics?"

If a character is speaking language other than English, then the dialogue will be italicized. Antonio, Feliciano and Lovino all speak Italian, Spanish, and English, while Ludwig and Gilbert both speak German and English.

"How old is everyone?"

Feliciano/Italy (14), Ludwig/Germany (14), Gilbert/Prussia (16), Lovino/Romano (16), Antonio/Spain (17), Romulus/Rome (47), Ekhardt/Germania (51)

"Who's related?"

Ludwig and Germany are cousins to Roderich (Austria), who married Elizabeta (Hungary), and therefore are cousins by marriage to Elizabeta. Ludwig/Gilbert's parent where fatally shot during a robbery when they were both small, and were sent to live with their grandfather. Feliciano/Lovino's father (a Venetian Catholic priest) disowned his wife and son(s) after discovering that she (she being the Italian Bro's mom) was homosexual, despite the fact that she was pregnant with Feliciano at the time. Mrs. Vargas died during childbirth and Romulus, the only family member willing to take in the boys, was given official custody of the boys. 

3: OTHER

"Will you be writing any other stories during this one?"

No, probably not. I'd like to focus on this one until it's finished, otherwise I'll likely get distracted and give up on both a few chapters in.

"How many words will each chapter be?"

At least 2000 words! Seeing as there will be 25 full chapters, that's about 50000+ words. I've never been good at longer chapters, but this story will hopefully break that.

"Will there be a sequel to this book?"

Most likely not. This is intended to be a one-book-only sort of thing, but if those who read this desperately want a continuation, then I might right a 1-3 chapter continuation.

"Will we be seeing more of this AU in future works?"

Possibly! I really like the idea of this AU, so I may make works based off of this universe. No promises, though!

"Where can we ask questions we have?" 

Any questions you have about this story (or any others) can be asked here, or in my DMs! 

I hope this answers any questions you may have had about this book, the AU, and the future of this story! Remember to leave comments if you enjoy, they make me feel warm and happy. 

\- clover


	2. Prologue

Ludwig Beilschmidt was an avid advocate for routine and order. He was a boy who valued consistency and regularity, and found it rather annoying whenever his routine was interrupted or changed. It had been this way for as long as he could remember, there wasn't a time in his life that he could think of when he didn't have a routine to follow.

And so it was unthinkable for the young German to move from his home, where he had lived for his entire life. To move from Berlin was to practically end his life! His friends, his school, his routine, his everything would be left behind. Life without routine wasn't a life worth living, and if his grandfather was to move him away from home, he was sure he wouldn't survive.

Yet, obviously, his grandpa couldn't care less about that fact, seeing as he was currently sitting in the car next to his older brother, glaring at the trees and hills as they flew by. Why? Why Italy? Why did they have to move to some unheard of town in Italy of all places? What was the point of that?

Of course, Ludwig knew the answer to that. This was all for his brother. His older brother was his idol, so Ludwig didn't care that it was somewhat Gilbert's fault he had been pulled away from his home, but God, did Ludwig resent the sickness that plagued Gilbert's body.

He had overheard his parents talking about it one night, when he was about ten. They had been speaking about Gilbert's coughing, the family doctor, his grandfather and Gilbert, all hushed voices and soft whispers. The Doctor had called it chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and COPD. His grandpa had called it chronic bronchitis. Gilbert, after a small coughing fit, had boldly claimed that it was a "stupid cold" and that he'd "be over it in a week". That, of course, was four years ago.

Ludwig still admired Gilbert's bravery that had pushed him to keep going with his life. So, while they drove through the hills of Italy, Ludwig promised himself that he'd be just as brave as Gilbert was.

\--------------------

Feliciano Vargas was a bird. Well, not literally, but he felt like it. He was running down the trail that led to the old farmhouse about a kilometer away from his home, a spot frequented by him and his brother. It was where they went to think, to sing, to cry. It was their special place. On more than one occasion, Feliciano had found his brother and his best friend sleeping next to each other, but he never paid much mind to that fact. Lovino needed someone to watch over him, after all, and if the Spanish teen that the boys had known their entire lives was to be Lovino's "guardian angel", then Feliciano would smile upon his big brother in approval, and he was sure Nonno Romulus wouldn't either.

Feliciano wished he had someone to watch over him, as well. It wasn't that he was lonely, per se. He had plenty of friends, he had his brother who, despite the fact that he was always grumpy about something, cared for him, and he had his grandfather, so he was hardly one to complain about being all alone. It was just that... Well, he didn't have someone that he was really really close to. He didn't have someone to tell all of his secrets to (well, if he actually had any secrets worth telling...), he didn't have someone to cheer him up when he felt sad. He had plenty of friends that liked him well enough, but he didn't want someone who liked him just because someone else did. He wanted someone to like him and to listen.

But that was wishful thinking for a boy living in such a small town, after all. No one ever moved here, and those who came to visit never really stayed all too long. He supposed that was alright, even if he did long for someone to talk to.

Things were getting boring around here. Feliciano decided that was why he had an empty part of him, waiting to be filled. His life was lacking something new and exciting. It was day after day of watching the animals, picking berries and fruits and nuts and vegetables, going to school, it was just a repetition. And there was nothing that he despised more than repetition. He didn't want his life to go in a loop, he wanted to be surprised at every turn.

So maybe that was why he was so thrilled when he heard rumors of someone hearing about some new family moving into the town. It had been a "I heard that he said that she said" situation, of course, as often happens to small town folk, but that didn't stop Feliciano from getting his hopes up. He needed a constant change, after all, surprises at every turn, always wanting something new to happen.

Maybe this new family that was supposedly moving into town would be his excitement, his saviour with surprises.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so it begins.

"Ludwig!"

Ludwig's head snapped up from the book he had buried himself into, knees drawn to his chest and his book mere inches from his face, and looked into the reddish eyes of his older brother, Gilbert. He was grinning widely, a hand on his hip and a smug smile plastered on his face. Ludwig couldn't help the sigh of exasperation that escaped his lips as he carefully placed his bookmark in between the pages, marking his spot, before he gently set it down. 

"What is it, Gilbert? I was reading." He muttered, raising an eyebrow at Gilbert. His albino brother laughed, a small cough following, which the brothers both cringed at.

It didn't take long for Gilbert to regain his bravado, however, and was quickly beaming at his little brother once again. 

"Gramps wants you to help him move some of the boxes in!" He declared, and Ludwig sighed in resignation, brushing off his legs as he nodded slowly.

"Alright. Is that all?" He asked, tilting his head to the side just slightly. Gilbert hummed in thought and shook his head. 

"Hmm... Yep! Can't think of anything else, so probably not." He said, and laughed again, quickly marching out of Ludwig's still-mostly-empty room, and down the hall. Ludwig smiled to himself, and followed, frowning at the empty hallways and barren rooms.

This house... This house was so empty, and dull. There were no photos on the walls, the clicking of their dogs nails against the wood and tile. It was empty and silent, and it wasn't home. It wasn't that Ludwog disliked the silence, in fact, he was rather fond of a nice, quiet room, but this wasn't the silence he was used to. This was heavy silence, that hung over him and mocked him, laughed at him because he was hundreds of kilometers from home, laughed at him because his friends and his home were far away, and he couldn't go back.

He wandered aimlessly, a frown on his face as icy blue eyes scanned over empty walls and bare floors. He could hear his grandfather and Gilbert chatting in a different room, their words muffled and indecipherable, but Ludwig did notice that Gilbert's voice sounded stronger, less strained. That, at least, gave him comfort. After all, that was why they had moved here, right? For Gilbert to live a healthier life. And, deep down, he was glad that Ludwig would live a better life now! It was all he wanted for his brother. He wanted Gilbert to be able to breathe easier, to laugh without breaking into coughing fits right after.

Berlin had too much pollution in the air for Gilbert to be able to live like he should, and it was only making his coughing so much worse than it needed to be. So, Ludwig was happy for his brother, but he still hated this place. He despised the road that led through the yard, loathed the empty rooms, and had a deep, burning resentment for this house, the property, this town, and the entire country of Italy. He knew it was a bit ridiculous, having such a hatred of a place that did nothing to him (yet), but he missed Berlin.

He missed his house, he missed his friends, he missed the familiar comfort of walking down the streets every day after school, and he missed the easy way he fit into everything perfectly. Here, he was going to stick out like a sore thumb. His voice, his looks, his personality, everything would give him away. He didn't speak Italian, much less understand it, and could only hope a few people knew English, or something that would give him some sort of advantage here.

He was absolutely helpless, and he really did not like being helpless. He hated it. Ludwig Beilschmidt was not a helpless person! He was smart, and he thought things through, and he did not let himself fall apart. He was supposed to keep himself and his emotions in check, not sit and seethe at walls!

"Get over yourself, Ludwig. You're acting ridiculous." He muttered, reprimanding himself. Gilbert looked around the corner, peering at Ludwig with crimson eyes and a raised eyebrow. 

"You say something?"

"Uh... no." Ludwig mumbled, cheeks flushing a soft shade of pink. "Just," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was beginning to style it by slicking it back, but he had decided that he wouldn't need to today. After all, he was going to be cleaning and moving boxes and unpacking, after all! Why would he need to have his hair done so immaculately? ."Just feeling kind of strange. I miss home, you know?" He looked up to Gilbert, silently asking for words of comfort.

Gilbert was quick to move over and put an arm around Ludwig's shoulders, grinning at him. "Hey, don't worry about it, alright?" He said brightly. "This is gonna feel like home in no time! Especially once Grandpa goes and gets the dogs from Roddie!" Ludwig smiled a tiny bit at the mention of his dogs. They were practically his children, and he missed them. This forsaken place would definitely feel a little more like home once the dogs came to join them. A small comfort was that they would probably love this place, with the warm atmosphere and large property to run on, and plenty of small animals to chase.

Of course, he still didn't like the house. He didn't like this place at all. But the dogs would, and Gilbert seemed to, so he could hardly say anything. Oh well. Ludwig let out a small puff of air, glancing at the floor sadly. Gilbert sensed his shift in mood and ruffled Ludwig's hair, gently moving him along the hall.

"C 'mon, Lud, Gramps still needs us to move boxes and stuff!" This, of course, caught Ludwig's attention. Work was good! It helped distract Ludwig from his feelings. So moving boxes would be perfect! Ludwig grabbed Gilbert's wrist and dragged him down the hall, and Gilbert grinned, knowing he had successfully took his little brother's mind off of the move, even if temporarily.

| | | | |

"Feliciano!"

A young Italian huffed and curled into his sheets, trying to ignore the voice that was calling for him. He wasn't ready to get up yet...

"Feliciano!"

No, no, not yet... it was still too early to wake up. Surely he could sleep for a few more minutes... He didn't need to get up just yet, did he? It was the weekend... Why would he get up now?

"Feliciano Vargas wake the hell up right now, goddamnit!"

With a small, displeased groan, Feliciano slowly sat up and blinked groggily, looking at his very ticked off older brother. "Good morning..." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Lovino made a very angry noise, something between an angry huff and a groan.

"Feliciano, it's 12:30 in the fucking afternoon, you idiot." Lovino snapped, a hand on his hips as he glared at his younger brother, who had a small, sleepy smile on his face.

"Oh... Is it?" he mumbled, wiggling out of the bedsheets and stretching, basking in the warmth of the afternoon sun that streamed in through his window. "I had no idea! Has anything happened?" Feliciano rummaged around through the piles of clothes on the floor and pulled out a loose t-shirt from and sniffed it. Well, it didn't reek, so it was clearly wearable. He pulled it on over his head, smoothing it out while Lovino scoffed in disapproval.

"Don't you have any clean clothes?" Lovino huffed in distaste, looking Feliciano up and down. Feliciano laughed and shook his head, digging a nice pair of shorts out of a smaller pile, tossing those on as well. He looked down at himself with a small nod, deciding that this would do. Lovino scoffed (again) and shook his head at the sight of Feliciano's toss-together outfit. "You look ridiculous." He declared, eyebrows furrowed at his little brother.

"Well, it's not like we're going anywhere!" Feliciano exclaimed defensively, and Lovino laughed dryly. "Actually, we are." He said, examining his nails and smiling smugly at the look of shock on Feliciano's face. "Toni's gonna drive us over to the new neighbour's house to meet them. So unless you want to look like some homeless ragdoll when we meet them, I suggest you find some clean clothes." And with those final words, Lovino stalked out of Feliciano's room, leaving the poor boy floundering for some clothes that were cleaner.

Minutes later, Feliciano stumbled into the kitchen, now wearing a loose cream-coloured shirt, and a fitting pair of brown trousers rolled up a bit past his ankles. Lovino nodded in approval and Antonio gave a thumbs up and a smile. "At least you don't look homeless," Lovino remarked, no real malice in his voice, and Antonio snorted.

"Feliciano? Look homeless? Lovi, my friend, you must be mistaken! Your little brother has the best fashion sense out of anyone I know!" The Spanish teen exclaimed, to which Lovino looked clearly miffed. Realizing his mistake, Antonio put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and smiled apologetically. "He learned from the best, though, of course!" He quickly added, and Lovino looked placified, and nodded. Feliciano giggled at their antics and plopped down at the table, quickly snatching up a cookie and grinning when Lovino swatted at his hand, frowning at Feliciano.

"You nitwit, those are for the neighbours." the elder of the brothers huffed, brows furrowed as the younger of the two laughed jubilantly, taking a small bite of the cookie and smiling. Antonio ruffled Lovino's hair (who did not seem very pleased at the action) and chuckled. "Ey, Lovi, calm down. They aren't gonna miss one cookie, will they?" He said cheerfully, to which Lovino made a very ticked off noise. "Then why did you refuse to let me have one?!" The dark-haired Italian demanded, glaring daggers at Antonio. Said Spaniard shrugged helplessly and grinned. "Feli has quick hands, I couldn't have stopped him if I tried!" He laughed.

Lovino scoffed and shook his head before getting to his feet and stalking to the front door, leaning on it with his arms crossed. "Well? Are we going or what? I don't want to sit here until I grow roots." He huffed, and the two boys still sitting quickly followed. "Lead the way, 'Tonio!" Felciano cheered, and with that, they all piled into Antonio's old truck and were on their way down the road.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to a rather lovely house, Lovino scowling fiercely as his brother and Antonio playfully teased him about the time he had bit into a tomato in the middle of the night after assuming it was an apple, and promptly woke the entire household after cursing loudly at the fact that he had splattered tomato all over his nice pajama shirt and the linoleum floor. All but Lovino stepped out of the car, the elder brother grumbled something about needing to fix his hair, and that he'd be out in a minute.

The two smiled apologetically and let Lovino be, knowing he'd follow them in due time. The Spaniard proudly marched up to the door and knocked with a big, goofy grin, Feliciano hovering excitedly right behind, trying to peer over the taller teen's shoulder when he heard footsteps approach the door. The door was thrown open flamboyantly, and Feliciano held onto the basket of cookies a little tighter, bracing himself for anything.

Well, almost anything.

The last thing he'd been expecting was for Antonio to know the person on the other side of the door. It was clear they did, seeing as it was quiet for a moment, before a distinctly foriegn voice spoke up in English. "What the fuck?"

It was quickly followed by a round of laughter, while Feliciano looked on quizzically. What was going on? With a broad grin, Antonio turned to the confused Italian and smiled widely, tossing an arm around the stranger's shoulders. It was the first time Feliciano got a good look at the foriegn teen, and saying he was interested by his appearance would be an understatement. His hair was quite literally white, like newly fallen snow, and his skin was pale to an almost concerning point. But his eyes were unlike anything that Feliciano had ever seen before- crimson and violet swirling together and twinkling mischievously, a stark contrast against his pale complexion.

Wow.

"You have pretty eyes!" was the very first thing Feliciano said, unashamed and genuinely in awe of this stranger who looked like something right out of a movie. The albino teen laughed brazenly and grinned at the short teen, amusement on his face. "Well, Toni, is this the fabled Lovino? He seems much more friendly then you said he was." Almost immediately, Antonio flushed pink and laughed nervously.

"Actually, I'm Feliciano!" Said Italian cheerfully. "Lovino is my big brother!" Gilbert's eyes widened a bit, before something like a smirk played on his lips. "Well, then that means you're free for the taking, now aren't you?" He said playfully, and Feliciano smiled broadly. "What?" He hummed, tilting his head to the side, and Antonio harshly jabbed Gilbert's side with his elbow, to which the German cringed at and shot a glare at his friend for. "Feli, this is my friend, Gilbert. We met a while back, but, um..." Antonio looked off to the side, smiling a bit sheepishly.

Gilbert laughed brightly and ruffled Anronio's hair with a grin. "Toni was studying abroad in Germany and he saw me 'harassing' a pretty girl, but I was just making fun of my cousin, but he didn;t know that, so you know what he did?" Feliciano watched in excitement, shaking his head vigorously, and Antonio covered his face with both hands and groaned in embarrassment. The scrawny albino continued with his story.

"He marched right up to me and punched me in the nose!" That earned a gasp from Feliciano, followed by a round of scolding. "Antonio Carriedo Fernandez! You can't just hit people because you think they're being mean to a pretty lady!" The short italian exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Oh, but that's not even the best part!" Gilbert wheezed, tears brimming in his eyes. "Eliza- that's my cousin- turned around and punched Antonio, too! Gave him a nasty black eye! It was fucking hilarious!"

"What was?" A voice said from behind Gilbert, and Feliciano looked up and around, spotting a head hovering over Gilbert's shoulder, a few centimeters taller than the pale teen. Feliciano was interested once again, and smiled widely. "Wow! Gilbert, is this your big brother?" Feliciano asked cheerfully, smiling at the new boy. Almost immediately, Gilbert flushed pink and furrowed his brow, the stranger smiled slightly, and Antonio snorted. Feliciano looked thoroughly confused, tilting his head to the side as he blinked, trying to figure out what had just happened. "What?" He asked, looking more confused with every second that passed. "Was it something I said?"

Antonio, after regaining his composure, grinned and shook his head. "Feli, my friend, this is Gilbert's little brother, Ludwig." The blonde stranger stepped out of the doorway and into the warm Italian sun and smiled apologetically. "I am sorry for any confusion." Ludwig said, voice strong and almost more mature than his elder brothers.

But Feliciano didn't seem to falter at all, and instead laughed. "Oh! That's okay, too! I'm a little bit taller than my big brother, too, but he always wears-"

"Shut the fuck up, Feliciano Vargas!" Lovino yelled, stumbling out of the car and barrelling towards the small group. The younger Italian smiled and giggled, sticking his tongue out at Lovino. "Oopsies!" He hummed, and stepped aside as his brother attempted to slam him to the ground, who instead ran into the still-somewhat-embarrassed Spainiard, who stumbled back on impact. Luckily, Antonio didn't fall, somehow managing to hold up a flustered and very ticked off Italian and himself.

Feliciano, Gilbert, and Ludwig all watched with a smile as Antonio apologized (through laughter) as Lovino cursed the taller teen out in a mix of Spanish, Italian, and English. Finally, Gilbert clapped and grinned. "Alright boys, enough of your lovers quarrel,"

Antonio choked and Lovino made an indignant squawk. Gilbert smiled smugly and continued speaking.

"I smell cookies and I want some, so let's go inside already!"

Gilbert grabbed his younger brother and dragged him inside, inviting the other three inside with a grin. Antonio made his way inside, closely trailed by a still grumbling Lovino, and Feliciano followed behind them, the door closing behind him.


End file.
